Door elevating mechanism



May 17, 1932 A. wAsBERG 1,858,844

DOOR ELEVAT ING MECHANI SM Filed Aug. 7, 1930 l l l l l l l I l l l l l l l l I l I l s [NVE/v70@ AXEL #144555@ AT-rv.

the lifting movement thereofvis designed to Y sTTas AXEL WAsBERG, or CHIGAGQILLINOIS; AssIeNonfTo cAivinL COMPANY, or Y. ILLINoIs, A coaroaArroN or rnnnirors` CHICAGO,

Doon annirA'rInefl MEEANISM This invention relates generally to door elevating mechanism and contemplates more specifically the application of such mechanism in connection with side slide doors em ployed on railway house cars. 1

It has been proposed, heretofore, toprovide lifting mechanism for sliding doors for house cars, comprising essentially a runway pivoted eccentrically to the door and provided with antifriction elements in contact therewith, upon which the door is supported for sliding movement. In its low-'ered position the door is usually lsupported frictionally upon a fixed track, upon which the antifriction .elements arev adapted to roll. To actuate the runway for elevating thedoor 'above the track and for supporting it for movement upon the anti-friction elements an operating lever is usually employed. It is to the constructiony of such an operating llever and its `relationship 'to the remainder of the elevating mechanism and to the door thatv this invention is particularly directed.

The invention has for an object the provision of door elevating mechanism, including an operating lever adaptedV to lift the 'door by an outward Vpull on the lever.vv

It is an object tok provide door elevating mechanism in which' an operating lever` adapted tol be movedaway from the door in lie normally in a substantially horizontal planeg d 'e An object, furthermore, is the provision of door elevating mechanism embodying a lever capable of being operated with equalfacility both from the ground and fromk a loading' platform.

An object, also, is the provisionr of door elevating mechanism in which means is ypro,- vided between the door andsaid mechanism` adapted'to p-revent relative horizontal and vertical movements therebetween.

Other objectsl and advantagesA will become Vmore apparent as the description of the invention proceeds.

lln'the accompanying drawings' illustrating a preferred` embodiment yof the invention, Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation of a vopen or closed position.

Y'with trunnions 22-23`adapted to be received in bearings124-25 formed in the gusset mem- Y Figure=2 isafsectionalview taken on line 2-2 offFigure 1, illustrating the door in its ca.l

lowered position.

Figure 3 is a sectional viewsimilarto Figure 2 butillustrating the'door in its elevated position. f I

Figure 4 -is a sectional viewtaken on line 'l-4ofll`igurel.l i 6o 1 l Mounted on th car'siding 10 ofa railway housecar thereis disclosed, in 'a preferred embodiment of Vthe invention, a door- 11 which may be of any desired vconstruction F and is illustratedin Figure las a corrugated -metallic door. Gussets 12 and 13,' constituted preferably of castings, are shown secured to the lower cornersofthe door. These gussets are provided with pads 14: .and 15 adapted to be supported upon and frictionally engagea fixed track '16. This track is support- 'ed in position bymeans of a plurality of brackets 17 secured to the track and to the car. .Y

i Elevating mechanism is provided-for the doorin order to disengage the frictional engagement between the door and the track when it is desired to move the door toward I ThisV elevating mechanism comprises a runway 118, in which Yanti-friction elements 19-19 are iseated. These elements, in the kpresent instance, are

Vshow-n as balls. Castings 20-21 are secured tothe ends of the runway and are provided Y bers 12 and 13.V

Referring to Figure 4A of the drawings it l will be observedthat the trunnions are positioned eccentrically relative to the aXis of the runway so thatfan eccentric4 connection between said runway andthe door is provided.l These castings are provided with lugs 26, adapted as hereinafter explained, to serve as stop membersf A spacer 27 is disclosed,- positioned within therunway and provided at its ends withpairs of downwardly feXtending'lugs 28-29 which engage the antifriction elementsand maintain them in the desired spaced relation. "Secured as byv rivets 19@ to the upper portion of the runway 18 is a bracket 30 provided with an elongated slot 31. Extending through the slot 31 is an operating lever 32 provided at its free end with a handle 33 and at its other end with an eye portion 34. A member 35 is secured to the door and is provided with an eye portion 36 with which the eye portion 34 of tlieroperating lever 32 is adapted to have loose engagement. 'y y vAbearing member 37 is rigidly secured to the door, This bearing member extends through a coped or cut-out portion in the rear of the runway 18 and is provided with a hook portion 38. xtending across the coped portion of the runway is a substantially cylindrical member 39,the endsof which are riveted to the runway. This member is adapted toY be seated within the bearing member 37 and be embraced by the hook portion of said bearingY member.

From the foregoing description of the invention it is believed that the operation of the structure set out will be apparent. When it is desired to elevate `the door for movement relativeto the fixed track the operator ygrasps the handle 33 of the lever 32 and exerts an outward pull thereon.4 The lever will thereupon engage the bracket 30 rigidly secured to the runway and impart to said runway a transverse oscillatory movement about the antifriction elements as fulcrums. Such movement of the runway will necessarily, due to the eccentric connection between` it and the door, impart a lifting movement to the door, whereupon the weight thereof will be supported upon the balls for sliding movement relative to the track. In the transverse movement of the runway the stop members 26 will engage the pads 14 and 15 of the gusset members'12 and 13 in order to limit the elevating movement ofthe door. It is evident that a lifting movement may be v imparted to the door as readily from a platlform as from the ground. When the door is operated from a platform it is only necessary to initially raise ythe operating lever 32 to the angular position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, whereupon the door may be readily elevated. This position of the operating lever maybe had because of the elongated slot provided in the bracket 30.

It isevident, because of the loose or pivotal connection between the eye of the operating leverr32 and the door, that as the free end of the lever is pulled outwardly a force is exerted tending to separate the door and the runway. In order to counteract this force the hook portion 38 is provided on the bearing member 37. It is apparent, also, that Vdue to the great weight ofthe door and the .position Vof the anti-friction elements there :may possibly be a tendency for the runway to bow upwardly. Such a tendency is also counteracted by means of the bearing mem- `memb ber 37 through engagement thereof with the cylindrical member 39 secured to the runway. It is to .be understood, however, that the cylindrical member and the bearing member do not normally aid in the lifting of the door. The elevating movementl of the door is produced by means of the eccentric connections hereinbefore referred to. Of course, in the leventV of any upwardA bowing of the runway vit ispossible that the members 37 and 39 may,

to some extent, aid in elevating the door but such aid isnot relied upon.

It is apparent that numerous changes in the details illustrating the preferred form of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, as set out in the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In door elevating'mechanism, the combination with a runway pivoted eccentrically to said door, of actuating means for said runway, said means comprising a bracket member secured to the runway and having a slot and an operating lever pivoted'to said door and extending through said slot, said slot being substantially vertical and said lever lying normally in a substantially horizontal plane, whereby said lever is operable from the ground or from a platform. Y

2. In door elevating mechanism, the combination with a runway pivoted eccentrically to said door, of actuating means for said runway, said means comprising a bracket memb-er secured to the runway and having a slot and an operating lever pivoted to said door and extending through said slot, said lever being adapted to be pulled outwardly away from the door whereby transverse movement is imparted to said runway through said bracket for elevating the door.

3. Door elevating mechanism comprising, in combination, a runway pivoted eccentrically to said door and actuating means for said runway, said means including a bracket secured to said runway and an operating lever pivoted to said door, said lever being engageable with said bracket by an outward pull away from said door to rotate said runway and elevate the door, and means preventing separation of said runway and said door.

4. Door elevating mechanism comprising, in combination, a runway pivoted eccentrically to said door and actuating means for said runway, said means including a bracket secured to said runway and an operating ylever pivoted to said door, said lever being engageable with said bracket by an outward pull away from said door to rotate said runway and elevate the door, and means preventing separation of said runway and said door, said last mentioned means comprising a member carried by said runway and a member secured to said door having a hookshaped portion engaging said first mentioned 5. In combination, a sliding door, a track way through said bracket, whereby said door l Vis raised above said track and is supported upon said anti-friction elements for sliding movement on the track.

6. Door elevatlng mechanism comprising, 1n combination, a runway plvoted eccentrically to said door and actuating means for said runway, said means including a bracket secured to said runway and an operating lever pivoted to said door, said lever being engageable with said bracket by an outward pull away from said door to rotate said runway and elevate the door.

ySigned at Chicago, Illinois, this 30th day of July, 1930.

AXEL WASBERG. 

